Transgender Violence and HIV

A presentation made at the International AIDS Conference in Washington DC. The speaker focused on the difficulties faced by transgender individuals, particularly women. She draws attention to the issue of stigma and discrimination, identifying these as contributing factors for high HIV prevalence among transgender people. Other contributing factors include lack of understanding by service providers, law enforcement and communities in general. These, in addition to the high number of transgender sex workers, many of whom don’t undertake regular HIV testing, contribute the pandemic. The speaker then calls for a human rights approach to the issue.